Ken Burns' America Collection: Thomas Hart Benton (Full Frame)

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Includes Footage Not Seen in PBS Broadcast! His paintings were burly. Energetic. And as uncompromising as the midwestern landscapes and laborers they celebrated. Thomas Hart Benton depicted a self-reliant America emerging from the Depression. Today his works hang in museums. During his life, Benton preferred to hang them in saloons, where ordinary people could appreciate them in congenial surroundings. A fierce defender of the aesthetics of realism, Benton took on art establishment and railed against abstraction. His reputation suffered the consequences as his star rose, fell and rose again. While Benton failed to stem the tide of modernism, his influence can be seen in the works of his student, Jack Pollack. Master filmmaker Ken Burns uses long-lost footage, penetrating interviews and the magnificent art of Benton to tell the bittersweet story of an extraordinary American artist who became emblematic of the price all artists must pay to remain true to their talents and themselves.

Behind the Scenes Footage.

"A conversation with Ken Burns"; Presented in Color/Black and White.